Android 4.4.4 coming to Nexus devices

Android 4.4.4 is coming to select Nexus devices. Google reportedly started rolling out the OTA update on Thursday.

Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 devices should receive the update over the coming days. Factory images are already available in case you don’t want to wait for the OTA update. The new build is KTU84P. Factory images are available on developers.google.com. https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

This is a relatively small update and it appears to focus on security fixes. The 4.4.3 update faced some criticism over a few bugs. Some users reported random reboots and other issues, but most did not.

What is becoming a bit more worrying about Google’s Android updates is the fact that the outfit can’t stop breaking things. For example it dropped the very useful terrain feature from the Google Maps app, although the API still works in third party apps. Apparently it was a bit too much for the average user. The latest Google Camera update removed a number of shooting modes including the nifty timelapse feature.

It can only be described as dumbification. It is possible to streamline the UI while retaining features for power users, however, Google appears to be reducing UI clutter and streamlining the interface by dropping truly useful features and making some core apps idiot proof and overly simplified.